I started travelling because I wanted to feel something.

Solo travel has taught me independence, patience and how to trust my instincts. It has also shown me how exhausting it can be, especially as a woman. You're constantly aware of where you are, who you're with and what could happen next.

But then something unexpected happens. You meet someone on a bus. You join a hike. You end up watching the sunset with people you met only days before.

Those moments are why I keep going.

You can meet someone for a few days and somehow they become part of your life.

I've shared rooms with strangers who became friends, gone camping beside the ocean with people I had just met, and found myself surrounded by people from completely different parts of the world.

I've gone hiking with people I had only just met, watched sunsets with strangers, and shared some of the simplest moments with people who eventually felt like family.

That's one of the things I love most about travelling. Connection doesn't always require years.

The sound of the waves. The breeze. The sunset.

There is something about the ocean that I can't properly explain. When everything feels overwhelming, I can stand beside the water and suddenly feel present again.

I've cried beside the ocean, laughed beside it, met people beside it and experienced some of my happiest moments there.

Peace. Freedom. Alive.

Some of my favourite travel memories were never planned.

A random festival.
A last-minute bus.
A hike with someone I had just met.
A motorcycle ride.
Camping beside the ocean.
Playing football in the water at sunset.

You can plan an itinerary down to the minute, but sometimes the best memories happen when everything goes completely differently.

I've learned to leave room for the unexpected.

Travelling has also taught me how confusing it can be to actually get somewhere.

“Okay... how the hell do I get there?”

I've been that traveller with a backpack trying to figure out buses, routes, destinations and what to do next.

That's why I created Albania Transport — to make travelling around Albania easier and to share the places, experiences and practical information I wish I had when I first started exploring.

Albania is beautiful, and I believe the best way to discover it is to slow down, explore beyond the obvious and leave some room for the unexpected.